St. Bernard

St. Bernard of Clairvaux was born in 1090 in Burgundy, France. He joined the abbey of Citeaux when he was 22 with four brothers and about 25 friends. He founded the monastery at Clairvaux. Under his direction, the monastery soon had more than 700 monks and more than 150 daughter houses. The saint worked to reform the Cistercians and helped end a schism in the church with anti-Pope Anacletus II. The spiritual advisor to Pope Eugenius III also helped organize the Second Crusade. St. Bernard was the first Cistercian monk put on the calendar of saints, and Pope Pius VIII named him a doctor of the church. He died in 1153. St. Bernard of Clairvaux is patron saint of beekeepers.